Rudy Giuliani (left), Lindsey Graham.Photo: Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Getty; Chip Somodevilla/Getty
A Georgia special grand jury examiningDonald Trump’s efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results has issued subpoenas for testimony from Republican Sen.Lindsey Graham, former New York City MayorRudy Giuliani, and other allies of the former president.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney signed off on the subpoenas, which were also issued to members of Trump’s legal team, including attorneysJohn Eastman, Cleta Mitchell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis, according to anAtlanta Journal-Constitutionreport.
Trump lost the popular vote in Georgia — which has historically been a reliably red state — to DemocratJoe Biden, and almost immediately began to pin his loss on fraud, all while pressuring officials there to “find” votes in his favor.
TheAJCreports that the 23-person special grand jury probing the former president’s pressure campaign on Georgia elections officials has heard testimony in recent weeks from a “parade of witnesses, including some who had direct contact with Trump and his associates in late 2020 and early 2021.”
The subpoenas issued this week, however, bring jurors closer to Trump, via some of his closest allies.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has saidher team is looking into communicationsGraham had with Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger after the election in that state.
The subpoena cites a November 2020 phone call Graham made to Raffensperger, in which he inquired about “reexamining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.”
Giuliani’s subpoena, meanwhile, notes that he appeared before the Georgia state Senate in December 2020 and made “statements, both to the public and in subsequent legislative hearings, claiming widespread voter fraud in Georgia during the November 2020 election and using the now-debunked State Farm Video in support of those statements.”
The statement called the probe “all politics” and “a fishing expedition,” accusing Fulton County prosecutors of “working in concert with the January 6 Committee in Washington.”
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While dismissive of the bipartisan committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Graham was openly angry about the riots that day and Trump’s own role in them, telling his Senate colleagues that night inan agitated speech: “Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh, my God, I hate it. From my point of view, he’s been a consequential president. But today, the first thing you’ll see, all I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.”
When Pence did not, Trump spoke before a crowd of his supporters, saying: “Mike Pence, I hope you’re going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country. And if you’re not, I’m going to be very disappointed in you.”
He then implored his supporters to walk to the U.S. Capitol, where Congress was counting electoral votes for Biden. The group did march to the Capitol, ultimately breaching the building in a deadly scene that forced the evacuation of lawmakers — including Pence himself.
“I think right here, we’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them,” Trump said. “Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.”
source: people.com
